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freedom as five americans released by iran are now on their way home to the united states. we'll discuss the terms of the deal that ended their wrongful imprisonment with the top national security adviser to president biden, jonathan finer. also tonight, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is now in the united states for critical meetings over at the united nations and here in washington. we'll preview his plea for more global support as ukraine's counter offensive against russia drags on. and another trump codefendant attempts to move the georgia election interference case to federal court. this as the former president is taking credit for efforts to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election declaring it was his decision. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." ♪

we begin this hour with the release of five americans wrongfully imprisoned in iran, and the deal that made it possible. cnn's becky anderson is covering it all for us. she's joining us live from doha, qatar. you were on the scene as the freed americans landed in doha before heading to the united states. give us the latest on their journey to freedom. >> reporter: >> this has been a deal more than 18montes in the making, involving u.s. partners, south korea, switzerland, and very specifically qatar, here where i am, which has been very much involved in as much as eight rounds of negotiations to get to this point today. putting an end to what has been a year's long nightmare for these five detainees in iran who arrived at the airport behind me. late afternoon, local time here.

partway through their journey back to the united states. they are on that last leg, and homeward bound as we speak. smiles, hugs and tears as five americans detained inside iran for years are finally freed and on their way home. among them, siamak namazi, he was arrested in 2015 while on a business trip to iran. and charged with having relations with a hostile state. after nearly eight years in prison, namazi was iran's longest held american prisoner, feeling abandoned by the u.s. earlier this year he appealed directly to president biden in an unprecedented interview with cnn from inside the notorious evin prison. >> honestly, the other hostages and i desperately need president biden to finally hear us out, to finally hear our cry for help and bring us home.

>> reporter: also freed, duel iranian-american citizens, marad tahbaz. tahbaz was arrested on a trip to iran in 2018. shagi, who moved with his wife in tweft was also detained in 2018, on similar charges to that of namazi. their fate tied to tensions between the two countries, but with the help of a common friend in qatar, breakthrough diplomacy brought us to this very moment. iran freed the duel citizens in a deal to release five iranians held in u.s. prisons. and two unblock $6 billion in frozen iranian funds from south korea. that cash moving from seoul to switzerland before being transferred to doha, after the

biden administration last week issued a sanctions waiver clearing the way for the money to move. the roll of qatar now changing from mediator to guarantor. ensuring washington's demands that iran's billions are strictly controlled and spent only on humanitarian goods like food and medicine. but critics worry even with doha's oversight, the moneys could be spent however teheran decides. there's also concern this latest deal enables what many critics have dubbed teheran's hostage diplomacy. but for the freed americans, today at least, politics will likely be a secondary concern as they finally get to go home after years of mental and physical anguish. and those detainees should be on

the ground in washington at a military airport by just before 5:00 in the morning. the biden administration says that iran has not changed on the back of this. they remain an adversary, and are considered a state sponsor of terror wolf? >> becky anderson, thank you so much. the he's now at the united nation where president biden addresses the general assembly tomorrow. john, thank you so much for joining us. how are these five americans and their families doing right now? what updates can you give us, first of all, on their condition? >> well, wolf, what i can say, respectful of their privacy is that we're very glad that they are on route back home and will be reunited with their families very shortly. the president had the opportunity to speak with their families earlier today to express how happy he was about their ability to reunite with

their loved ones, and the truth is that's what today is all about. as you know, they have been held for varying durations, some for many years, some for a shorter amount of time. the important thing is they will be offered a number of services to help them reacclimate to regular life, and they will be returned to their families in short order. >> we're so happy they're on their way back to the united states to be reunited with their families right now. as you know, john, the biden administration has insisted that this negotiation to get their release is separate from nuclear talks with iran, but are you concerned these funds that are now being freed up could bolster iran's nuclear program? >> wolf, as you say, this is an entirely separate conversation with the iranians, from anything related to national security issues like iran's nuclear program. this was about the merits of bringing five americans back home and to their loved ones, and as for the funds that are involved, as you know, they will

be moving from one restricted account in south korea to another restricted account in qatar, and the iranians will be able to use the funds for authorized purposes, food and medicine, and agricultural products and medical devices and that will be closely monitored. if there's any deviation, the funds will be frozen, and we expect the funds will be spent over a long period of time, probably measured in years. we feel very comfortable that the funds will be used for the purpose for which they're bended. >> intended. >> john, with the u.s. oversight, once the funds are accessed by iran, how can the u.s. guarantee they will only be used for these humanitarian purposes. >> the keyword you just used are accessed. these funds are not actually going to be returned to iran, even though these are actually iranian funds that were in this south korean account, they never

go back to iran, they're transferred to iranian accounts in qatar, and each transaction from qatar can be monitored. as the iranians use them to purchase things like food, medicine, agricultural device, we can monitor transaction by transaction and make sure there's no deviation. we have extraordinary reach in terms of our visibility, our intelligence, our ability to monitor the financial system. that's how we have identified elicit iranian transactions in the past that resulted in sanctions, extensive sanctions. by the way, 400 sanctions designations in this administration alone. so we feel comfortable with our ability to monitor and make sure that these funds are used the way they are supposed to be. >> the u.s. announced new additional sanctions targeting iran today, but beyond that, john, what more can be done to stop adversaries from detaining american citizens for political gain? >> well, wolf, i would direct you to a couple of lines in the

president's statement today and to some language that the state department has used. in particular about the travel of american citizens to iran. we strongly discourage americans from doing that for any reason, and we know that a number of americans do travel to iran, including some duel nationals, some people who are citizens of both iran and the united states. the problem is that iran will treat americans, potentially as an opportunity. and treat iranian americans as subject to iranian laws in ways that can compromise their safety and security, so the president has been very firm, very clear as has secretary of state tony blinken that americans should not travel to iran, and we can not guarantee their safety, certainly while they're in iran or that if they fall victim to one of these same situations that led to these five americans have been held that we will necessarily be able to secure their release. we have been quite firm about that, and urge people to follow their advice. >> we tell american citizens,

whether duel citizens or not, don't go to iran right now and other messages as well. what message does this send that this is following the anniversary of ma samin irngs's death. >> this is an iranian government that does not respect human rights, iran's own zts. the united states has been firm in the crackdown that has taken place against iranian demonstrators. we have done a number of sanction designations in response to that situation, including some quite recently around this anniversary, and, you know, the question really should go back to the iranian government. they should not undertake these activities against their people, citizens of foreign countries, it's not just the united states who they have detained, imprisoned and in some cases who they continue to imprison, which is why we have been so firm and urging people not to travel

there. >> jonathan finer, the white house principle deputy national security adviser, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks very much for having me. just ahead, the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy has just arrived in the united states ahead of crucial meetings here in washington as well as over at the united nations. mondnday evening in "the situation room" is presented by verizon. stay tuned for erin burnett out front at the top of the hour. (jen) so we partner with verizon to (marquis)operations to the nexwith a custom private 5g network. (ella) with verizon business, we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (marquis) so our customers get what they want, when they want it. (jen) it's not just a network. it's enterprise intelligence. (vo) learn more. it's your vision,

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. a federal judge says he'll decide soon on jeffrey clark's bid to move his georgia criminal case to federal court. clark is a former senior trump justice department official, and one of the ex-president's 18 codefendants indicted for allegedly trying to subvert the state's 2020 presidential election results. cnn's sara murray is following the proceedings for us. she's joining us right now. did the judge seem inclined based on what you saw and heard to move this case? >> he seemed pretty skeptical of

the arguments from jeff clark's team, he had to make the case it was related to his role. he challenged clark's attorney on why clark was circulating these claims of election fraud his bosses said were bogus in these draft memos to georgia officials, and it hurt clark that he didn't show up for person in this hearing. he submitted a sworn statement that the judge refused to accept into evidence because prosecutors can't cross-examination a sworn statement. that came up. this is interesting to see what happens for jeff clark, and also interesting because we want to know what's going to happen to donald trump in this case. trump's attorneys signal it's possible they will try to move his case to federal court as well. they haven't done that yet but we know they have been watching in closely. they were in the courtroom again today. at one point our team in the courtroom overheard trump's attorneys opining that things were not going well for jeffrey clark. they want to learn what they can from the codefendants before they make their own move to move

to federal court if they do that. we'll see if clark prevails, and we'll see what happens with trump. >> process continues. thank you very much for that report. i'm joined by elie honig, and andrew mccabe. donald trump gave an interview to nbc news yesterday where he was very revealing about the decision to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen. listen to this. >> were you listening to your lawyers' advice or your own instincts? >> i was listening to different people and when i added tup, the election was rigged. >> were you calling the shots ultimately? >> as to whether or not i believed it was rig, sure, it was my decision. >> so is this statement from trump something that could be very useful to prosecutors? >> sure, wolf. i think donald trump made some fundamental concessions here. the prosecutors are going to be

very interested in. in that clip he acknowledges it was his decision to move forward and it was his intend to overturn the results of the election. the rest is consistent with donald trump's defense. i was getting certain piece of advice from some advisers, contradictory advice to other advisers, ultimately i relied on my gut. every time he speaks in public, that's fair game for prosecutors, i suspect they're watching and taking notes. >> i suspect you're right. andrew, do you see this as potentially an admission from trump? >> well, i don't know if it's an admission of any specific illegal act, but it certainly goes to his acceptance of responsibility for making the decisions that ultimately led to this effort to try to overturn the election. it's also kind of consistent with the defense that we've heard his team float in the past, which is basically the i meant well defense. i really believed it, and therefore i was doing all of

that he is things pursuant to my genuine belief that the election had been stolen. however, we know that's not actually a legal defense. if you commit violations of criminal law with the best intention, they're still violations of criminal law. all he had to intend, that mental state that the prosecutors have to approve is he intended to do these acts, and i think the statement certainly adds to that argument. >> i suspect you're right as well. mark meadows who was trump's white house chief of staff lost his attempt to move his case to federal court. given that, does jeffrey clark have a realistic chance of getting his case moved from state to federal court? >> wolf, i think jeffrey clark has an extraordinary weak and problematic argument. jeffrey clark has to prove he was acting in his scope as a senior doj official. the job of any doj official is to investigate in good faith, and act accordingly. what jeffrey clark did was

opposite of that. he drafted a letter he wanted doj to send to various states, we found evidence of substantial fraud, that is a complete fab ri kags of jeffrey clark. if he was acting in his scope that's a dark day for doj, and heaven help us all, and i think jeffrey clark is going to lose this motion. >> in a related development, andrew, the judge in the federal election subversion case is weighing placing a limited gag order on trump. trump posted in response, and i'm quoting him now, i'm campaigning for president against an incompetent person who has weaponized the department of justice and fbi to go after his political opponent. and i am not allowed to comment? they leak, lie and sue, and they won't allow me to speak? andrew, how does the judge weigh these competing concerns? >> i've often said that donald trump is a guy who never met a line he didn't cross, and here we have yet another example of trump's public statements,

basically doing exactly what the prosecutors were complaining about in their motion requesting that limited gag order as it's been referred to. i really think he's pushing the resolution of this motion in a very dangerous direction for him. i think it's likely that the judge is going to impose some restrictions on his public speech, and then he'll run right past that once again. >> andrew mccabe, and elie honig, gentlemen, thank you very much. coming up, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy visits ukrainian soldiers being treated at a new york hospital. where else he is heading during his visit to the united states. we have new information. stay with us, you're in "the situation room."

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ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has just arrived here in the united states, taking some time ahead of critical meetings this week to meet with ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in new york city. for more on this story, i'm joined now by cnn military analyst retired general wesley clark, and cnn contributor, jill dougherty. general clark, how urgent is zelenskyy's trip as winter conditions are about to make ukraine's counter offensive even more grueling? >> well, i think it's a very important trip. it's very timely. he's in new york. he's got a lot of world leaders here. he's got a strong case to present. and i think he's going to have a chance to see president biden as well. so, yes, this is a very important very timely visit, and ukraine urgently needs more military assistance, as well as other things. >> you're absolutely right.

jill, what do you think putin will be watching for as zelenskyy appeals for more funding and weapons? >> well, i mean, zelenskyy really has a task ahead of him because he has to ask for more, and he had both weapons and support, and then he also has to show that he is not -- that he is cracking down on corruption, and that is a really crucial message. it's a difficult one to deliver as you can imagine. i think it's significant that we've just learned that six deputy defense ministers have been removed from their positions, and that is in line with this anti-corruption drive, and then i also think, you know, if you watch what zelenskyy has been saying, he is saying now that ukraine has a moral right, as you put it, to strike back at russia, and that could mean more drone attacks on russia. >> yeah, that's important, indeed, general clark, how

significant is this shakeup that's going on in the ukrainian defense ministry? >> well, i think it is very significant, because it shows a very serious intent on a part of president zelenskyy to eliminate corruption. there have been many many rumors about corruption at all different angles and stories of money put out, stuff not delivered, stuff delivered, excess price, stuff not delivered at all. it is just a lot of problems there, and you know, wolf, they're now in a much different situation than they were when he formed that defense ministry when he became president, so this is war. there's a lot of talent in ukraine. he needs to put that talent to work here on this very important issue in this ministry of defense. >> it's interesting, jill, that kim jong un of north korea just left his extended visit to russia with parting gifts from the russians of body armor and drones. what was behind putin's red carpet treatment of kim? >> well, interestingly, they're

not saying that they had any deal at all, which is quite surprising because of course the united states and other countries in the west believe that, indeed, kim was there to provide ammunition for putin, and, you know, putin gives other things to north korea that they need, extremely, you know, good technology, let's put it that way. i think what's notable for me, wolf, was the press coverage in russia on this, and i think what they were trying to do, state media, was kind of troll the west and say, oh, look, oh, no. kim jong un, who's very unpredictable, who has missiles is now in russia. they gave it a lot of coverage and a lot of it was just kind of snarky america and the west are scared of russia and north korea. >> jill dougherty, wesley clark, to both of you, thank you very much. this note to our viewers, it's important, be sure to join me

tomorrow for my sit down interview with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy, fresh off his speech over at the united nations general assembly, that's tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. eastern right here in "the situation room." now to the infamous wagner mercenary group. there have been many questions since the wagner chief's fiery death, including if the group would be able to continue without him. cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward traced evyevgeny prigozhin 's ss too-t to find out. >> reporter: there's been a lot of speculation about the empire that prigozhin built. this isn't just about mercenaries or manpower. this is a very lucrative commercial enterprise which comprises diamonds, gold, timber, even alcohol, and what's fast

fascinating is the nerve center for that commercial enterprise is somewhere you probably wouldn't expect. we actually visited, it's a cultural center in the capital. take a look. this is one of the last places that prigozhin was seen alive during his final tour across africa. it's called the russian cultural center, only it has no connection to russia's official cultural agency and was run until recently by prigozhin's closest associate here. photographs taken on that visit show a new face, a woman known as nafisa. after days of asking for permission to visit, we decide to film covertly. you were here, then, when yevgeny prigozhin was here, the photographs. there's the photographs of you with prigozhin together. >> can you show me that? >> yeah. >> i think it was just over in that corner.

>> yeah. here you are. >> okay. that's good. >> and this is ms. prigozhin, how was he? >> reporter: do you think he knew they were going to kill him? >> that's a good question there. who knows such things. >> reporter: what does it mean for your work here? does it change anything? >> does it change anything if i didn't know the president dies. the country stops to exist. >> she shows us one of their daily russian classes as we step back outside, we see a wagner fighter. you can just make him out retreating to the back of the center, where according to the investigative group the century, wagner sells its gold and diamonds to vips and managing

its timber and alcohol operations. >> who is that? >> a person. >> can we see what's there, that's weird? >> what are you going to see there? >> reporter: like most of wagner's activities here, it's clear there's so much that's hidden from view. we have pushed it far enough, it's time to go. now, woclf, we understand that the mercenaries have now sign contracts with the russian ministry of defense, and there is still a question mark as to who will take over all of those various commercial enterprises and how they will continue to be run without the leadership of yevgeny prigozhin. on the ground, when you talk quietly to wagner fighters, they will tell you, the mission doesn't change, they work for russia, and they will continue to serve russia, wolf. >> excellent reporting, thank you very much. and to our viewers, you can see

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if you ignore the research that says otherwise. in big tobacco's fantasyland, the deadliest industry is your friend. tonight, the house speaker kevin mccarthy is desperately trying to wrangle his unruly republican majority as the clock ticks toward a government shutdown, but nasty, very public infighting inside the house gop could be putting his entire speakership in jeopardy right now. cnn's melanie zanona is joining us from capitol hill. she's got details. melanie, give us the latest on this rather bitter feud playing out right now? >> reporter: the tensions have been simmering since last week when kevin mccarthy in a closed door meeting used the f word in response to some of his critics'

threats to oust him. now it feels like the house gop is an open warfare. congresswoman victoria sparks put out a fray saying kevin mccarthy is a weak speaker, and they need leadership that's going to fight for the country and not just fight for power and a picture on the wall. mccarthy in response told reporters that she is the one who is essentially giving up the fight because she has decided to not seek reelection. a lot of this drama has really centered on the house gop plan to fund the government, and a number of conservatives who helped to broker that deal are now openly pushing back on some of their colleagues who plan to oppose the proposal. congressman byron donald went on social media and said marjorie taylor greene is wrong, and matt gaetz needs more than tweets to s solve the plan. and told us moments all matt gaetz has done in his congressional career is run his mouth. this messy infighting shows the

challenge kevin mccarthy is facing as he tries to fund the government, save his speakership and control his increasingly unruly conference, wolf. >> melanie zanona on capitol hill with the latest. thank you very much. let's get some naanalysis right now from our political experts who are joining us. ron brownstein, let me start with you. this political infighting is growing increasingly nasty. what's your thought? it's nasty, not to mention a bill that has little if any chance of passing the senate. >> yeah, they're fighting, you know, hammer and tong over a bill that would be instantly dead as soon as it passed the house. i'm just thinking that kevin mccarthy may have kind of new empathy for john boehner and paul ryan each of whom were ultimately consumed by the same dynamics, the speakership. there's a portion of the republican conference in the house that simply has to be seen as saying no to whatever the option is, and i felt from the moment that mccarthy was able to, in fact, cobble together a deal on avoiding default on the

debt, which was the more consequential moment that it was almost inevitable that he would have to shut down the government later in order to satisfy those voices in the conference who feel they have to be seen as using any tool available to fight the left. >> you know, alice, we're just getting this statement in, and i want to get your thoughts, the florida governor ron desantis who's running for the republican presidential nomination, rereacted to trump's latest statements on abortion saying this, telling a radio station in iowa. i think all pro lifers should know he, referring to trump, he's preparing to sell you out. the governor issued this blistering reaction to trump's statements. he's changing in a way that is not consistent with the values of the people in iowa. what's your reaction to that? >> bravo for governor desantis, because that is what many pro life republicans feel. that's what those that really supported donald trump in 2016, that's the way they feel.

to refresh everyone's memory, over the weekend the president said that we really need to tweak the message on abortion. donald trump right now is running a general election campaign. the problem is he has to win the primary first, and what got him into office in large part, winning the 2016 campaign, was his commitment to being the most pro life republican out there, and he's banking on the fact that he got three conservative justices on the supreme court. gorsuch, kavanaugh, as well as a amy coney barrett, and he think that's going to continue to win over the pro life republicans. bob vander plaats is saying you can't say let's make a deal on the pro life issue. there's the national association of christian lawmakers, they are fed up. they want donald trump to retract his statement, and want him to get out of the way of states that are making pro life legislation, let them do that because that was the whole focus. >> i want to get your thoughts, but let me play the clip. here's trump what he had to say on nbc news on "meet the press"

yesterday. desanctis is willing to sign a five week and six-week ban. >> would you support that? >> i think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. other than certain parts of the country, you're not going to win on this issue, but you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks. >> you know, ironically, desantis's statement is actually helping trump because it is not acknowledging that trump was lying through his doteeth right there. just weeks ago he was out there touting the fact that he put on the court the three justices who took out roe v. wade, that he was responsible for killing roe v. wade, and he's the reason you're getting these six-week bans. what trump is doing is very dangerous, and we have to all be very careful not to get manipulated by it because i surely saw is up front and in person in 2016. he has a record now. he was president for four years. if he was going to try to do some kind of deal, okay, why didn't you? there was a bill actually in the

congress during his tenure, the women's health protection act. he could have said let's pass that and protect roe v. wade. let's find a compromise. he didn't. he's now trying to have it both ways. this is how he manipulates the immediate, the social media as well to try to get people to hear what they want to hear so that nobody's really quite sure where he is. but we do know where he is. >> i feel like a lot of coverage is mischaracterizing what trump is saying. even if that clip, he's saying, you are going to come up with a number of weeks. another quote in that interview, you're going to come up with a number of weeks of months, he will sign a national ban on abortion. it is not whether, it is how many weeks. and so when people say he is waffling on whether there should be a national ban on abortion, both in the "meet the press" interview and in the cnn town hall in new hampshire, he made very clear that he would sign a national ban, and the only issue at what point there would be a cutoff. in fact, in the cnn town hall, he said it was any ending roe v. wade after 50 years that gave

the pro life community the leverage to achieve the best possible deal. so there should be no confusion about this. certainly he's criticizing desantis in the context of a republican primary. in a general election, he is still very clearly on the side of a national ban on abortion. the only issue is how many weeks. >> i think you're going to see him do this on a number of issues. he now recognizes that the country is in a different place on abortion, so he needs to try to have it both ways, i think we've got to hold his feet to the fire and hold him accountable for his actual record. >> guys, thank you very much. he did say he wants to bring both sides on the abortion issue together and negotiate some sort of deal. we'll see if that happens. >> sure. >> coming up, how president biden is following in the foot steps of past u.s. commanders in chief by striking a deal to bring wrongfully imprisoned americans home. stay with us.

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tonight, as five american

citizens freed by iran are heading back to the united states, the white house is defending the deal that led to their release. cnn's brian todd has more on that. brian, presidents of both parties have struck deals to bring americans home in the past. tell us about that. >> presidents in both parties have done, wolf. presidents going back at least as far as the early '60s have made those deals. tonight we take a deeper dive into some of those prisoner releases and how they were viewed at the time. donald trump today pounced on president biden for the deal that brings five american detainees home from iran. trump posting on truth social that, quote, once you pay, you always pay, and many more hostages will be taken, calling biden dumb as a rock for making a deal. but many of america's biggest hostage deals of the past have also been the most controversial, and they've been done by democratic and republican presidents. >> whichever administration does a hostage swap gets americans back home, it's a win. so you can expect the other side to attack the deal.

the fact that the matter is if you want to get americans back, you're going to have to give something. >> reporter: as president, trump himself engineered releases in 2018, bringing three americans home from north korea, which seemed to some observers like a quid propoll. the release of u.s. army sergeant beau bergdahl, who had been held in afghanistan for about five years after vanishing from his post and was considered by some to be a deserter. >> we're tired of the sergeant bergdahl deal where's we get a trader and they get five of their killers that they've wanted for years. >> reporter: in exchange, the obama administration did trade five taliban figures who had been held at guantanamo bay. these deals go back several decades. in the 1980s, ronald reagan's

administration became enmeshed in its biggest scandal which began when it secretly traded arms to iran in order to free american hostages held in lebanon by the terrorist group hezbollah. >> what began as a strategic opening to iran deteriorated in its implementation into trading arms for hostages. >> reporter: and the 52 american hostages seized from the u.s. embassy in tehran were released after more than a year on the last day of the carter presidency under a deal that unfroze almost $8 billion in iranian assets. a more recent but no less controversial deal was the trade last year involving american basketball star brittney griner who was arrested in russia on drug charges. the man who the biden administration traded for her, viktor bout, nicknamed the merchant of death, a notorious russian arms dealer, who conspired to kill americans. >> there was a lot of concern that releasing someone like that was completely disproportionate to release someone like that in exchange for an american

basketball player on a trumped up drug charge. >> a senior biden administration official acknowledged that these are some of the most difficult decisions a president makes. but the officials said they thought this deal with iran does stand up. the official said, quote, when you look at the full contours of the deal compared with the alternative, the alternative is these americans never come home. wolf? >> brian todd, excellent report, thank you very much. still ahead, the auto workers strike is now in its fourth day amid widespread concerns about how long it might last and the impact it might have on the economy.

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(psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily gives you long lasting non-drowsy relief. flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills. the auto workers strike here in the united states is now entered its fourth day, but another strike this one in canada is set to begin at midnight amid concerns of a prolonged work stoppage and an economic downturn. cnn's gabe cohen is covering the story for us and joining us live from toledo, ohio. how far apart are the

negotiations, and are the stakes about to get even higher? >> reporter: wolf -- indication that the -- [ horns honking ] >> reporter: met with stellantis today where i'm standing outside of with the company saying in a statement this afternoon, quote, the discussion was constructive and focused on where we can find common ground to reach an agreement. [ inaudible ] roughly 20% raises that the big three automakers have offered, versus the 40% that the union has demanded, plus that long list of benefits. and so there certainly is this gap between them. as you mentioned -- [ inaudible ] with the big three with more than 5,000 workers in canada. ford workers set to go on strike at midnight if their union can't reach a contract agreement with the company. it's becoming more likely by the hour. and that will create even more

disruptions. we know more than 2,000 ford and general motors workers are set to be laid off because their facilities can't operate as long as these three are on strike. so, again, it's creating a lot of problems in the auto manufacturing industry across north america. >> certainly is. those workers who are on strike, they're obviously very, very concerned for good reason. gabe cohen, thank you so much. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." be sure to join me tomorrow for my interview with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy tomorrow 6:00 p.m. eastern right here in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, this is not good. the words whispered by trump's attorney in a courtroom today. why? this as trump is throwing his own attorneys under the bus